First Book: Daphnis Observes the Sleeping Chloe (Daphnis regarde Chloe dormir) Possibly 1937

Aristide Maillol made this piece, Daphnis Observes the Sleeping Chloe, as an illustration, and you can see that the lines are clean, simple, almost like they were made in one go. I really respond to the way the figures fill the frame, how their forms are so present. Maillol has such a sensitivity for depicting bodies, and that single color, that reddish-brown ink, is so warm and inviting. I keep coming back to the line that defines Chloe's back as she's lying down, it has this beautiful curve. It gives her presence and volume, but it's also just one simple mark. It makes me think about how much you can do with so little. This reminds me a little of Matisse’s line drawings, and how he could describe so much with so few marks. It’s that economy of means that really gets me going. It’s a reminder that art isn’t about perfection, but about finding a way to communicate an idea, or an emotion, as clearly as possible.